Open Eyes
2 KINGS 6:17 NKJ
17 And Elisha prayed, and said, "Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
What we see with our physical eyes is not all that's happening.
Spiritual forces are active around us. Unless God "opens our eyes" we're in the dark to what's really happening.
Of course, it shouldn't be necessary for us to "see" into the spirit realm to believe what God has said, such as that His angels would keep charge of us always to protect us.
ACTS 26:18 NKJ
18 'to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.'
When God told Paul what his calling was, the first step mentioned was "to open their eyes . . . that they may receive."
For us to receive all that God has provided for us, we must also have "our eyes opened."
Our prayer needs to be that of the Psalmist.
PSALM 119:18 NKJ
18 Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.
SAY THIS: Lord, open my eyes. Give me understanding and insight.
We all have blind spots. It's so much easier to see other people's blind spots.
During the election, I prayed that God would show us all what we had done to deserve Barack Obama, that we might repent.
I've been convicted of being too meek, too afraid to speak out unless it was "the proper venue". That meekness meant that children in a village in Sierra Leone went months longer than necessary waiting for a well -- because I wouldn't speak boldly. Angele got to witness the unseemly spectacle of a hundred million of her fellow citizens dancing on her child's grave because I wouldn't speak boldly.
There are times for meekness and times for boldness. I tried being meek for over a quarter of a century, and it's accomplished diddly.
"Meekness" is "gentleness." You can be both gentle and bold. It doesn't have to be one or the other. Sometimes, they will be mutually exclusive, but not always.
ReplyDeleteI wish I knew what to say and when to say it.
ReplyDeleteLook at where the military has moved over the years, and how far we've come. We used to just carpet bomb. We used to fire bomb. We used to just wipe out entire cities. Now it's surgical strikes. The training my brother underwent to learn to quickly and accurately identify and spare noncombatants was relentless.
But look at the direction the "prochoice" movement has gone in. From in limited circumstances allowing early abortions, to outright infanticide even when the baby's mother is pleading for an ambulance.
The MILITARY in our society are more chary of killing than are the supposed champions of non-violence.
Ironic, no?